Apple and Eve

LOS ANGELES (Fortune) -- In Pixar Films' upcoming animation epic, "Wall-E," the title character is a cute but clunky robot whose centuries of solitude on an abandoned Earth is broken by the arrival of a svelte, futuristic robot named Eve - who is so white, gleaming, and well, pod-like, that she looks like she was born in Apple's design room. It turns out that she was - sort of ...

2P START! Live!

I had the opportunity to appear on the latest episode of the 2P START! podcast. I had a good time recording it and, judging by the comments, it was a welcome addition for the listeners. Enjoy 30 minutes and 16 seconds of fun!

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Free Dr. Pepper? Probably not until 2010

I'm catching up on a few news items I missed over the past few months and even though this one's a little old, it's probably never going to be too old, considering how long this album has been 'in the works.'

Free Dr Pepper For "Chinese Democracy"

Dr Pepper is offering everyone in the country a free soda if Axl Rose releases the album he has been recording for 17 years, "Chinese Democracy," anytime this year, according to a press release.

I like how you can predict when the album will be released and one of the choices is "the day after you die."

Professional movie critics disappearing

I don't typically link to company blogs, but I thought this post for Fandango was interesting:

Disappearing Movie Critics

The Interent has made film criticism the ultimate democracy, and overall, that's great. With sites like Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, and our own fan ratings and user reviews, consumers can quickly and easily find out the critical consensus, the word on the street, and how a movie played at preview screenings.

But it's still sad to see so many seasoned critics, with their unique writing styles and opinions, being lost in the shuffle.

I guess that's an industry I'm glad I didn't get into.

The 'real' crystal skulls

Real-life skull worship inspires new 'Indy' film

PALENQUE, Chiapas (AP) — There is a legend that the ancient Maya possessed 13 crystal skulls which, when united, hold the power of saving the Earth — a tale so strange and fantastic that it inspired the latest Indiana Jones movie.

I'm already liking the new movie's MacGuffin more than Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom's Sankara Stones, which few (or zero) teams remembered correctly at last year's museum trivia night.

Childless men still children

Child-Man in the Promised Land

We can argue endlessly about whether “masculinity” is natural or constructed—whether men are innately promiscuous, restless, and slobby, or socialized to be that way—but there’s no denying the lesson of today’s media marketplace: give young men a choice between serious drama on the one hand, and Victoria’s Secret models, battling cyborgs, exploding toilets, and the NFL on the other, and it’s the models, cyborgs, toilets, and football by a mile. For whatever reason, adolescence appears to be the young man’s default state, proving what anthropologists have discovered in cultures everywhere: it is marriage and children that turn boys into men.

Clearly some publisher needs to create a video game combining models, cyborgs, toilets and football.

'Forum' review

The review is now online and it's a good one, indeed. But if you don't want a funny plot surprise ruined prior to seeing the show, don't read it yet!

Farcical 'Forum' tickles the ribs

San Joaquin Delta College's drama program is offering a colorful, cartoon-styled farce that's a tickle-your-ribs kind of funny. It's a production of Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart's 1962 musical comedy "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," with an emphasis on the comedy.

'Forum' preview article

It took me five days to find this article on The Record's web site. Hopefully I can find the review (which was published today) quicker than that. Victor took a great photo and it's too bad it's not in color on the site.

Cast faces comic challenges in Delta College's staging of 'Forum'

Last fall, Chris Hayhurst tackled the title role in San Joaquin Delta College's wildly zany production of Moliere's "Scapino." At the time, he described the part as perhaps the most physically demanding of his young career.

Free Comic Books this Saturday

Free Comic Book Day is a single day when participating comic book shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their stores. Click below for more information.

Show Lame The

Noah and I reversed the order of the podcast this episode, in the hopes that those of you who haven't been able to make it to the end of the previous episodes will see what you're missing. Perhaps it'll become the new format for good! Let us know what you think by e-mailing thelameshow@gmail.com

Backwards

Everything is backwards in this episode! Instead of being near the end, the Lame List is first, highlighting 'the worst' newspaper tech columnist and Microsoft accidentally letting one of its beta products expire without explanation.

Picks of the Week immediately follow, featuring some casual work-delaying games and an audiobook of a classic novel made into a major motion picture last Christmas.

Finishing things up are some news topics, such as the Safari web browser for Windows and the iTunes Store becoming the No. 1 Music Retailer (above Wal-Mart).

Episode 29.m4a (52:31)
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Star Wars Muppet figures

Based on the classic 1980 episode of The Muppet Show and a later serial in Muppet Magazine (which I'm pretty sure I had), Star Wars Muppet figures are due out this summer exclusively at Disney theme parks.

Star Wars Muppets Coming Soon

Buffy meets Fray in July

On sale July 2, 2008, is Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #16, featuring the first meeting of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Fray the Future Slayer. You can catch an exclusive first look at myspace.com/comicbooks

The Lame Show: Episode 28

Noah and I are back for another episode of our podcast and I'd describe this latest one as 'back to basics.' No guests or listener questions (not that I dislike either of those), just the two of us sharing our frustrations with the wonders of modern technology.

Late to Leopard

Noah has returned from New York City, where he purchased Leopard from the city's famed Apple Store. Now that both he and Eddie have upgraded, they compare notes on the latest update to Mac OS X and iLife.

Another of Noah's New York purchases figures into the Lame List nominations, as does an application that doesn't play nice with the big cat.

Top picks for this episode include an excellent To Do list application and some music to listen to while you're doing those to's.

Episode 28-1.m4a (56:46)
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Update: A user error (mine) left the original version of this episode with some phantom audio. If you experienced that, please re-download the audio file.

WonderCon 2008 - Masquerade

I didn't get a great seat for this year's Masquerade, so the videos I took were not as good as last year's. But looking at last year's videos, I confirmed that this year's entries simply weren't as good. There were approximately 30 entries and only a handful were entertaining. I've only posted three (I think they all won awards).

I'm not too familiar with who all these people are, but anyone that's played a Zelda game probably knows them. It was still pretty funny to me. Oh, and it features the same kid who played Link last year.


Some costumes can be made, others have to be 'built'


If you know who these guys are, you'll probably love this as much as I did. If you don't, I'm sorry for you. And if you can't understand what they're saying due to the crowd noise, there's a better clip elsewhere on YouTube.

WonderCon 2008 - Wall•E

The Disney hour began with a look at the upcoming The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. The trailer was not yet finished at that time, so some centaurs were just people with long green stockings. It was mildly entertaining (certainly more than the Shutter segment) but I was more interested in the latter half of the hour, focusing on Pixar's upcoming film, Wall•E. Director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo) presented a number of clips that were very entertaining. He also answered a few questions like 'If the movie has no dialogue, will John Ratzenberger be in it?' and 'Where will the Pizza Planet delivery truck be?'

Wall•E Director Andrew Stanton at WonderCon 2008

WonderCon 2008 - Return of The X-Files

One of the most well-attended sessions of Saturday, Feb. 23, was for the 20th Century Fox horror thriller Shutter. Why? Because you had to sit through that in order to see The X-Files stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, creator-director-writer-producer Chris Carter and writer-producer Frank Spotnitz. They had been shooting the second motion picture the previous night and flew in to make an appearance and talk with the fans. The excitement in Hall A could not have been much higher and the foursome didn't disappoint, providing a charming, funny and insightful Q&A segment.

The X-Files 2 Panel at WonderCon Pt. 1


The X-Files 2 Panel at WonderCon Pt. 2


The X-Files 2 Panel at WonderCon Pt. 3


The X-Files 2 Panel at WonderCon Pt. 4

WonderCon 2008 part 1

A month's gone by since WonderCon 2008 took place in San Francisco and I've finally had the chance to upload some of the video I took to my YouTube Channel.

The first session I attended (did not record) was the 10,000 B.C. Q&A with director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow) and stars Steven Strait and Camilla Belle. Emmerich has a strong (German? Austrian?) accent, so he sounds a bit like Arnold Schwarzenegger. The funniest part was when an audience member asked how historically accurate the film was and Emmerich, referring to the extended clip just shown answered "As you can see, It's nawt a dockumentaree" (imagine it in the 'It's not a tumor' voice). I've since seen the film and can assure you it's more a comedy (not on purpose).

The real reason I attended that session was just to have a decent seat (mission not accomplished) for the following Get Smart session featuring stars Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway and director Peter Segal. In case you don't know, Steve Carell is a huge star, especially among this crowd, but also a genuinely funny person. Although both he and Anne were a bit taken aback by the audience, they had a really great Q&A, which naturally drifted into talk about The Office.

Steve Carell & Anne Hathaway at WonderCon Part 1


Steve Carell & Anne Hathaway at WonderCon Part 2


Steve Carell & Anne Hathaway at WonderCon Part 3

The Lame Show: Episode 27

Things are a little different for this episode because I upgraded to a new version of iWeb and it decided to change the layout of the site and files, probably breaking links, etc.

Invaded by a PC 'mindset'

PC guy Chris Gauthier visits The Lame Show to discuss with Noah and Eddie the supposed 'Mac Mindset' of superiority, iPhones being hacked around the world and the superiority of the Amazon MP3 store over the iTunes store. He also details a Linux-based home media centre.

Their top picks this episode include the most well-written movie of 2007, a newly-released animation effort and a way to learn new languages via an online social network.

Lame List nominations include both Apple and Microsoft, plus a subpar projector.

Episode 27.m4a (1:04:10)
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The Black Crowes attack Maxim mag review

The Black Crowes are lashing out at Maxim magazine for reviewing the band's new album — apparently without actually hearing it first.